Design 
26 October 2023
Design 
339

George Nelson & Associates

Meridian wall clocks, collection of eighteen

Howard Miller Clock Company
USA, c. 1965
glazed ceramic, lacquered aluminum, brass largest: 2⅛ d × 14¼ dia in (5 × 36 cm) smallest: 2¼ d × 10¾ dia in (6 × 27 cm)
estimate: $8,000–10,000
result: $9,450
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Collection includes models 4003, 7542, 7543, 7545, 7547, 7549, 7557, 7584, 7950, and 7974. Stamped manufacturer's numbers and labels to the reverse of most examples.
provenance: Wright, Design, 18 October 2012, Lot 110 | Private Collection

This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.

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Meridian Clocks

The skills of well-known designers and artists-craftsmen are used in the execution in subtle tones and dramatic colors, exotic woods, ceramics, satin polished metals, and unusual finish combinations into a line of superb clocks important as decorative accents for the finest interiors.

— Howard Miller Clock Company, 1965

Complete Lot Details:


From left to right: 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse; 14 dia x 1.75 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse; Model 7547, 13.5 dia x 2 d inches, stamped number to reverse.


From left to right: 13 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse; 14 dia x 2 d inches, dated to reverse: [1974]; 14 dia x 2 inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse.


From left to right: Model 7543, 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse; Model 7557, 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse; Model 7584, 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse.


From left to right: 13 dia x 2.5 d inches, signed with paper manufacturer's label to reverse; Model 7557, 14.25 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse; Model 7974, 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse.


From left to right: Model 7590, 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with paper manufacturer's label to reverse, Model 7542, 14 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse, 13.5 dia x 2 d inches, signed with applied manufacturer's label to reverse.


From left to right: Model 4003, 10.75 dia x 2 d inches, signed with distributor's label to reverse; Model 7549, 11 w x 16.5 h x 2 d inches, Signed with paper manufacturer's label to reverse; Model 7545, 11 dia x 2.5 d inches, signed with paper manufacturer's label to reverse.

Clocks are placed in a room conspicuously and therefore should be objects of decoration. They must live up to that obligation.

George Nelson

George Nelson & Associates

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Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1908, George Nelson studied architecture at Yale University, teaching for a short time before the Great Depression. In 1932, he won the Rome Prize and spent the next two years studying design in Italy. Returning to the states, Nelson sold his essays to Pencil Points and became an associate editor at Architecture Forum and Fortune magazine. After reading Nelson’s innovative book Tomorrow's House, then president of Herman Miller furniture company D.J. De Pree hired Nelson as design director. Nelson launched his first collection in 1947 and transformed the struggling company into a groundbreaking leader in the field. Nelson remained at Herman Miller until the mid-1960s, and was responsible for bringing Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard and Isamu Noguchi on board.

In 1947, Nelson opened his own design studio, George Nelson Associates, Inc. which at one time employed over seventy people. The company’s work within corporate settings revolutionized the concept of branding and elevated industrial design to new heights. Throughout his career, Nelson continued to write critically about design across multiple planes, teaching and consulting until his death in 1986.

Auction Results George Nelson & Associates

George Nelson & Associates

Rare and important Marshmallow Sofa

estimate: $50,000–70,000

result: $112,500

George Nelson & Associates

Comprehensive Storage System

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result: $36,750

George Nelson & Associates

CSS (Comprehensive Storage System)

estimate: $8,000–10,000

result: $35,000

George Nelson & Associates

Thin Edge end tables, pair

estimate: $10,000–15,000

result: $34,800

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